The Impact of Maltreatment on Relationships

1. The Impact of Maltreatment on Relationships Bryan Samuels, CommissionerAdministration on Children, Youth and Families

2. A History of Maltreatment Is the Norm among Children and Youth in Many Systems Miller, EA; Green, AE; Fettes, DL; & Aarons, GA., 2011. Data come from a representative sample of 1,715 youths aged 6–18 who received services from one or more of five San Diego County public sectors of care. Ntl. Forum on Youth Violence Prevention

3. Maltreatment Impacts How Youth Form Relationships with Adults Maltreatment affects a child's health and well-being as well as the quality of his or her relationships. Child maltreatment represents an extreme form of child–parent relationship disruption (Harden, 2004; Milan & Pinderhughes, 2000). Child maltreatment can be considered as a chronic interpersonal trauma, to which the child is exposed on a daily basis within the context of the caregiver-child relationship (Perry, 2008; van derKolk, 2005). Children’s capacity to adequately cope with stress depends largely on the nature of the stress and on the attachment figure’s capacity to diminish or counter the effects linked to the stressor (Lyons-Ruth et al., 1999). The developmental stage of the child at the onset of the abuse and neglect will influence the type and severity of the consequences (Frederico, Jackson & Black 2005; Perry 1995). For many maltreated children, nurturing and supportive parental behavior was inconsistent or unavailable, resulting in children wholack confidence to explore new environments and relationships (Bretherton, 2000; Sorce & Emde, 1981). Ntl. Forum on Youth Violence Prevention

4. Student Shootings in Chicago 2007-2009 • Demographics • 90% of all shootings are male • 69% of all shootings are between the ages of 15 to 17 • 21% are in Special Ed. • Misconduct • 78% have either no Misconduct Code violation or one that is a 3 or less • 48% have never been suspended from school • Enrollment • 74% have been continuously enrolled in the same school for at least three semesters • 97% have been continuously enrolled in CPS for at least three semesters • Temporal • 70% of all shootings occur outside of Extended Day Hours • Attendance • Shooting victims had an average attendance rate of 42% for the month prior to the shooting • 32% of shooting victims attended school on the day of shooting or on the prior school day if shooting occurred on a weekend. • Spatial • Shootings happened closer to the victims home address than to the school. • -Median Distance from shooting to victims home: 0.41 miles • -Median Distance from shooting to victims school: 1.41 miles • Academic Performance • 0.95 grade point average for shooting victims. Ntl. Forum on Youth Violence Prevention

5. Path of Maltreatment’s Impact on Relationships throughout Life Ntl. Forum on Youth Violence Prevention

6. Relationship Functioning in Child Welfare Casanueva, Ringeisen, Wilson, Smith, & Dolan, 2011. Ntl. Forum on Youth Violence Prevention

7. Relational Functioning as Well-being? Collishaw, Pickles, Messer, Rutter, Shearer, & Maughan, 2007. Ntl. Forum on Youth Violence Prevention

8. Typical Programs for Youth Yield Poor Outcomes Koball, Heather, et al., 2011. Ntl. Forum on Youth Violence Prevention

9. Barriers to and Facilitators of Interpersonal Connection • Barriers to Connection: • Fear of the Emotional Risk • Fear of indebtedness • Fear of being failed • Being pushed to bond too quickly • Resistance to directive advice • Adult lacks understanding of youth’s culture or background • Facilitators of Connection: • Adult has persistence/patience • Authentic displays of affection by adult • Adult opens up/shares their own experiences • Adult respects youth/their past experiences • Adult goes beyond prescribed relationship • Shared characteristics between youth and adult • Youth experiencing a period of vulnerability/extreme emotional need Establishing or repairing of a protective, emotionally responsive child–adult relationship for a maltreated child or a child at risk of maltreatment should be the central focus of services. If we choose to intervene on behalf of maltreated children, it is incumbent on us to rehabilitate the capacity of these children to engage in healthy relationships. Ntl. Forum on Youth Violence Prevention

10. Healthy Adult Functioning (Reese, 2010) Ntl. Forum on Youth Violence Prevention

11. References Bretherton, I. (2000). Emotional availability: An attachment perspective. Attachment & Human Development 2(2):233. Casanueva, C., Ringeisen, H., Wilson, E., Smith, K., & Dolan, M. (2011). NSCAW II Baseline Report: Child Well-Being. OPRE Report #2011-27b, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Collishaw, S; Pickles, A; Messer, J; Rutter, M; Shearer, C & Maughan, B. (2007). Resilience to adult psychopathology following childhood maltreatment: Evidence from a community sample. Child Abuse and Neglect. 31:211. Crittenden, PM. (1988). Distorted patterns of relationship in maltreating families: The role of internal representation models. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology. 6(3):183. Frederico, MM; Jackson, AL; & Black, CM. (2005). Reflections on Complexity: The 2004 Summary Evaluation of Take Two. Bundoora, Victoria: School of Social Work and Social Policy, La Trobe University. Harden, BJ. (2004). Safety and stability for foster children: A developmental perspective. Future of Children. 14(1):30. Koball, Heather, et al. (2011). Synthesis of Research and Resources to Support At-Risk Youth, OPRE Report # OPRE 2011-22, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Lyons‐Ruth, K; Bronfman, E; & Atwood, G. (1999). A relational diathesis model of hostile‐helpless states of mind: Expressions in mother‐infant interaction. In: Solomon J & George C (Eds.). Attachment disorganization (pp. 33‐69). New York: Guilford. Milan, SE & Pinderhughes, EE. (2000). Factors influencing maltreated children’s early adjustment in foster care. Development and Psychopathology. 12(1):63. Miller, EA; Green, AE; Fettes, DL; & Aarons, GA. (2011). Prevalence of Maltreatment Among Youths in Public Sectors of Care. Child Maltreatment. 16(3):196. Perry BD; Pollard RA; Blakely TL; Baker WL; & Vigilante D. (1995). Childhood trauma, the neurobiology of adaptation and use‐dependent development of the brain: How ‘states’ become ‘traits.’ Infant Mental Health Journal. 16:271‐291. Perry, BP. (2008). “Child maltreatment: A neurodevelopmental perspective on the role of trauma and neglect in psychopathology.” In Beauchine, TP & Hinshaw, SP. (Eds.). Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (pp. 93‐128). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Reese, CA. (2011). All they need is love? Helping children to recover from neglect and abuse. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 96:969. Sorce, JF & Emde, RN. (1981). Mother’s presence is not enough: Effect of emotional availability on infant exploration. Developmental Psychology. 17(6):737. van derKolk, BA; Roth, S; Pecolvitz, D; Sunday, S; & Spinazolla, J. (2005). Disorders of extreme stress: The empirical foundation of a complex adaptation to trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress. 18(5):389. Ntl. Forum on Youth Violence Prevention